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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232324">Stilinski Saturday Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse'>JoMouse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Full Moon Ficlets [48]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Don't copy to another site, Firefighter Derek Hale, Firefighter Stiles Stilinski, Growing Up Together, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Stilinski Family Feels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:08:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232324</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Stilinski men took Derek in after the fire. Now, Derek and Stiles are firefighters at the same station.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale &amp; Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Full Moon Ficlets [48]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652395</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Full Moon Ficlet Prompt #418: Infernal</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stilinski Saturday Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Greetings and salutations!</p>
<p>This is written for <a href="HTTP://fullmoonficlet.tumblr.com">Full Moon Ficlet</a>. The theme this week was "Infernal" and all I could think were flames and fire and, well, this was born. It got a bit away from me so it's unbeta'd due to last-minute finishing. </p>
<p>I hope you guys like this. Now I need to get working on fics for Valentine's Week. Eeps. Send good creative vibes my way if you can!</p>
<p>xx-Joey</p>
<p>Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Leaning his head back against the seat and listening to his coworkers going on about the job they’d just finished. Their voices were tired, but excitement held the words up, bouncing them against Derek’s ears until he wanted to clamp his hands over them and shout at the top of his lungs. He couldn’t begrudge the excitement, they’d managed to save all the tenants of the small apartment complex, but the smell of smoke still filled his nose. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Derek glanced over at the new guy, but he was staring out the window, fingers and forehead pressed to the glass. His breath fogged the window so Derek couldn’t make out his reflection in the glass. It had been his first fire with the station, and he’d handled himself well, but he’d known Stiles long enough to know it had been rough for him. He wanted to reach out for him, but he was too far away. Derek bounced his head against the seat, trying to shake visions of flames from his mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they got back to the station, Derek headed straight for the locker room. The rest let him go, knowing he wanted to shower the smell off himself as quickly as possible. They’d quickly learned that giving Derek space after a call was the best way to keep a healthy working relationship. Standing under the scalding water, head pressed against the cool titles, he stared down at the words tattooed over the scars on the inside of his left arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” in his mother’s handwriting. Brilliantly colored flames surrounded the words, and everyone who saw it for the first time thought Derek had to be a pyromaniac.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As a firefighter, he understood that logic, but as the survivor of one of the county’s worst arson fires, he definitely wasn’t obsessed with fire. Five days after the fire, he woke up in the hospital to find himself utterly alone in the world. The fire had taken his entire family from him. The police quickly apprehended the arsonist, a woman obsessed with Derek and his family. She’d tried repeatedly to get into his life, and he’d turned her down. Apparently, he’d done it one time too many, and she decided to make him pay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pay he did. Every day he woke up and, for a split second, forgot that he had no family left, and then the memories came crashing down over him. It was like losing them all over again, and the pain never went away. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the water grew cold, he scrubbed his hands over his face, groaned, and turned the shower off. Grabbing his towel, he stepped out of the shower, surprised to find the locker room quiet. He’d heard the others come and go from the showers but hadn’t thought he’d been in there long enough for everyone to clear out entirely. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he stepped into the main area. Glancing around, he found only one other person there. Stiles had started just the week before at the station, much to his father’s and Derek’s concern. He sat on the bench in front of his locker, face in his hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His shoulders were rising and falling rapidly, and Derek realized that he was crying. He looked around for anybody else to talk to him, but they were alone in the room. Straining his ears, Derek could hear the rest of the station upstairs moving around the kitchen, and the smell of Cap’s chili reached his nose. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, Stilinski?” he asked, wincing when Stiles flailed and nearly fell off the bench, catching himself at the last minute.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles turned bright amber eyes on him, tears sticking the lashes together. Derek’s breath caught in his throat at the amount of pain those eyes held, and he took a step forward, dropping to sit on the bench next to him. Derek clapped a hand onto the man’s shoulder and tried to give a reassuring smile. Based on the grimace he got in return, he guessed he’d failed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gotta put a bell on you, Hale!” Stiles snapped. “And I don’t care if we’re at the station; call me Stiles.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Derek grinned at the familiar banter between the two of them, glad that he’d stopped crying. He thought back to the first time he’d met Stiles, the morning after he’d woken up in the hospital. Deputy Stilinski had come in to talk to him, a young kid at his side. While the deputy spoke, the kid walked around the room, touching everything and throwing out questions and comments. Derek wanted to be annoyed, but the kid was the perfect distraction from his devastation and the pain running through him from the burns to his arm where a falling beam had trapped him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles and his dad visited Derek every day in the hospital until his discharge. Standing in front of the hospital in the clothes they had given him, Derek had no idea where he would go. He’d heard his name being called and saw the deputy and Stiles standing next to a cruiser. “You’re coming home with us!” Stiles shouted, and the next thing Derek knew, he was moving into the spare room at the Stilinski house.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As time went on, Derek became family. He helped Stiles with his homework and stood with him cheering when John was sworn in as Sheriff of Beacon Hills. The Stilinskis came to all of Derek’s basketball games, and by the time he’d graduated, Stiles was looking up to him as the big brother he had been before his family had been killed. Derek found solace in being a part of a family again and was thankful every day for John taking him in, but there was still that small part of him that couldn’t move on and settle down in his life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leaving for college was tough. Derek had gotten into a small school in New York, so he wasn't able to get back to Beacon Hills as often as he liked. He would Skype with the Stilinski’s once a week and make sure to come home for birthdays and holidays, but it wasn’t the same. He found himself adrift while he ran around the city, trying to find himself separate from everyone and everything he’d ever known. His feeling of purpose faded more with every day that passed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One night during his third year, a fire broke out in the building next to his dorm. They’d evacuated all the surrounding buildings, and while Derek stood frozen in front of the burning structure, he felt something rising inside of him. It took everything in him to stay glued to the sidewalk when he saw someone in the upper windows leap out and bounce to safety on the landing pad below. It was at that moment Derek knew what he wanted to do with his life and his mother’s words came back to him. The fire hadn’t killed him, and if he had his way, it wouldn’t kill anyone else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He finished college and got his degree before returning to Beacon Hills to join the fire fighting academy. He was surprised when he’d come back to the Stilinski house that first day and Stiles was sitting on the floor, reading a book. He hadn’t been in the same room with him since Stiles’ high school graduation two years earlier, and he’d changed a lot. His hair had grown out, and he’d finally grown into his long limbs, although he was still awkward as he jumped to his feet, stumbled, and fell into Derek, squeezing him tight in the type of hug the Stilinskis were so good at giving.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles had stayed close to home for school, and for the two years that Derek trained at the academy and volunteered at the BHFD, they spent their free time together. It was odd for Derek to hang out with Stiles in bars, sharing a drink and talking. He’d always admired the younger man’s intelligence but getting to know him like that was another thing altogether. It wasn’t too long until Derek regretted moving in with the Stilinskis because he didn’t want to be Stiles’ older brother anymore. He wanted something else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Stiles had announced at Derek’s graduation from the academy that he wanted to follow in Derek’s footsteps, both he and his father tried to talk him out of it. Neither one of them could imagine knowing that Stiles was willingly putting himself in danger, but neither one of them could stop him once he put his mind to something. The only deal they struck was that, like Derek, Stiles had to finish college first, and then if he still wanted to be a firefighter, Derek would help him get into the academy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d held out hope that Stiles would change his mind, that he’d fall into his studies and find a new passion, but as soon as he had his diploma in his hand, he was pulling up applications for the academy. Derek, true to his word, helped him get in and supported him through the entire thing while secretly still hoping he’d change his mind. He’d worried that with Stiles in a fire with him, he’d focus too much on keeping him safe, but he’d managed to compartmentalize that day during the blaze and knew that it would be alright having him by his side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, what’s up?” he asked as the silence dragged out between them. He leaned forward to start grabbing his clothes out of his locker next to Stiles’. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was more intense than I expected,” Stiles admitted. “I mean, I know I went through all of the training fires, but this was...different.” He ran a hand through his hair, a few stray drops of water falling onto his shoulders, and stood to grab a towel from the stack near the lockers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How, so?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You weren’t there before,” he admitted after a long moment, rubbing his hands over his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stiles, I’ve been in hundreds of fires,” he said, voice patient as he stopped what he was doing to wrap a hand around Stiles’ wrist and stop him from fleeing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, I know. And it’s always awful, but this is the first time I </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw</span>
  </em>
  <span> it. I saw you surrounded by flames and realized how easy it would be to lose you.” He looked up, and the tears were back in his eyes, bringing a few to Derek’s as well. “How easy it would’ve been to never have you in my life.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Derek’s throat tightened as he thought about the implication of Stiles’ words. He’d spent a lot of years wishing he’d died with his family, of running crazy risks without caring if he survived. He loved the Stilinskis, but they weren’t his family, and if this world decided he was due to join his family, then he would go out saving other people in the same way he’d failed to with his family. To hear Stiles’ genuine pain at the idea of not having Derek in his life, he realized that his death would do to Stiles and his father what his family’s death had done to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you can’t promise me that you won’t get hurt or die, and I can’t promise it either if you even care-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stiles,” Derek interrupted. “There’s a reason your father and I both tried to talk you out of joining the academy. We wanted to keep you safe because we care about you. I know I’m not overly affectionate…” He trailed off, thinking about the talk he’d had with the therapist he was required to see by the station. “After my family died, any and all physical affection reminded me of them, and it hurt so much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, every time my dad and I hugged you…?” Derek nodded. “Man, I’m so sorry.” Derek clapped him on the shoulder, frowning when Stiles ducked away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright,” Derek explained. “It got easier, but I still don’t know how to initiate it. My therapist says it’s because I’m afraid if I do, that I’ll lose you as well, and I really couldn’t handle losing another family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess we’ll just have to keep each other safe while saving the world together?” Stiles said, holding his arms out but not moving closer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Smiling, Derek stepped forward and pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly, burying his face in his neck. Inhaling deeply, he tried to tamp down on the part of him that flared with fear and just held on. Stiles pulled away when the hug finally ended, grinning and then laughing with both hands over his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Am I that bad at hugging?” Derek asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles shook his head and then gestured at Derek, his hands going from the top of his head to his feet. Looking down, Derek’s face burned red as he realized he was still only in his towel, and he hurriedly grabbed his clothing and headed back to the showers before things got really awkward between the two of them. “So, are we going to make this a tradition after calls?” Stiles called out, laughing when Derek flipped him off over his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he was dressed, he stepped out to find Stiles in his jacket, hands in his pockets as he rocked from heels to toes. “Waiting for me?” Derek teased. “If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss out on Cap’s chili.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles shrugged. “Was thinking we could hit the diner instead.” Shrugging, Derek grabbed his jacket and twirled his keys around his fingers as he walked past Stiles, bumping their shoulders together. He laughed when Stiles stumbled, spinning around to follow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they got to the diner, John was already in a booth waiting for them. Derek slid onto the bench opposite, surprised when Stiles slid in next to him. Usually, the Stilinski men sat together, leaving Derek to his own space. Not only did Stiles sit next to him, but he also pressed into his side and looked up at him, eyebrows raised in question. Smiling, Derek threw an arm over Stiles’ shoulders and hugged him one-armed before shrugging out of his jacket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The three of them ate together, talking about anything except the fire they’d all just dealt with, and when they were finished, they headed back to the Stilinski house. John was just stopping home long enough to shower, change clothes and head back to the station to cover a shift for an officer down with the flu. When he was gone, Derek found Stiles on the floor in front of the couch, his laptop open on the table in front of him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Derek dropped down and handed over one of the two beers he’d grabbed from the fridge. Stiles took it, scrolling through the page he was looking at. “Find anything?” Stiles had been looking for places to live, thinking it was time to move out. Derek knew it was probably beyond time for him to be moving out, but he didn’t need much space, and John let him pay rent, so he figured he’d stay and help out where he could.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s a couple of two bedrooms that are nice,” Stiles told him. “I actually found a condo not far from the station that looks promising.” He tapped the screen a couple of times, opening a new page, and Derek leaned over his shoulder to look at the listing he brought up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew the complex the condo was located in, and it was one of the new units. He eyed the price and did some math in his head. “You can’t afford that,” Derek said, taking a sip and starting to lean back while he reached for the remote to the television.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can, though,” Stiles said. “It’s actually three bedrooms and two full baths.” He tapped the screen. “Two car garage and decent square footage with a basement.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We?” Derek asked. “You find a girlfriend when I wasn’t looking?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You and me,” Stiles said, leaning his head back to look up at Derek. “I mean, it’s closer to the station, and we know we can live together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m helping your dad by paying rent,” Derek pointed out, and Stiles snorted. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Every cent you’ve paid to dad has gone into a bank account. He’s planning on giving it to you when you move out,” Stiles told him. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t,” Derek said, frowning. He calculated the numbers and realized there would be close to fifteen thousand dollars in the account. “It was meant to help him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dude, you don’t get it. He loves you, and he wants to take care of you. That’s all he’s ever wanted, from the first night he came home from the fire to tell me about the brave teen who tried to save his family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And didn’t,” Derek said, his voice angrier than he’d intended.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles made a face at him. “He came into my room and woke me up, asking how I would feel about having someone live with us for a little while. It was three in the morning, and Dad and I started cleaning out the spare room to make a space for you. This was before I’d even met you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Derek rubbed his hands over his face. “Then, after you’d lived with us for a couple of months, Dad asked how I would feel if he adopted you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Derek swallowed hard. John had never mentioned adopting him; he probably wouldn’t have agreed to it even if he had because he didn’t think he’d deserved a family at sixteen. Now, if it were an option, he’d probably still refuse because that would make Stiles his brother, and that would be incredibly uncomfortable for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told him not to,” Stiles admitted, looking embarrassed and moving up onto the couch. “I didn’t want a brother.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ouch,” Derek said, even though he’d been having the same thoughts just a moment earlier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s wrong to be in love with your brother,” Stiles told him, turning sideways to face him. “And I told Dad that. Even at only ten years old, he didn’t laugh at me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were ten. You couldn’t have been-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Derek, I was, or at least I knew that one day I would be,” Stiles insisted. “And even though I know you would never feel the same way…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do...or at least, I think I do,” Derek said, and Stiles’ head shot up. “This is weird.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fucking weird,” Stiles agreed. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Stiles gestured to the computer screen. “I guess getting a place together would be a bit much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A bit fast.” Derek ran his hands over his thighs roughly. “What if we start with a date first and hope we don’t screw everything up between us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stiles grinned and nodded. “That sounds like a plan.” He jumped to his feet and headed out of the room. “I’ll pop the popcorn. You pick a movie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This isn’t a date,” Derek called after him. “It’s just a Stilinski Saturday night.” Stiles’ laughter brought a smile to his face, and Derek used the remote to filter through Netflix, trying to find something to watch while figuring out what he and Stiles should do on their first date.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come say 'hi' on tumblr. I'm 'josjournal' over there.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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